software installed on suspect computers could be considered breaking section 3 of Computer Misuse Act, by altering data..

lack of clarity from authorities, Article 8 Human Rights Act, scope of states power must be disclosed and made clear what authorities will or won’t use ..

William Hague, who speaks for the government on computer security issues, said: “Any export of goods that could be used for internal repression is something we would want to stop” .. He also admitted the law governing software exports was a grey area ..”

Her second Reith lecture of 2011, the former director-general of the British Security Service (MI5), Eliza Manningham-Buller, discusses policy priorities since 9/11. She reflects on the Arab Spring, and argues that the West’s support of authoritarian regimes did, to some extent, fuel the growth of al-Qaeda.

“.. In the UK, the introduction of malware is covered by section 3 of the Computer Misuse Act [2]. The Act states that a crime is committed if a person “does any act which causes an unauthorized modification of the contents of any computer” and the perpetrator intends to “cause a modification of the contents of any computer” which may “impair the operation of any computer”, “prevent or hinder access to any program or data held in any computer” or “impair the operation of any such program or the reliability of any such data” ..

Malware is generally distributed unintentionally subsequent to its initial creation. Thus an ICP or an ISP would not be found criminally liable under either the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act or the Computer Misuse Act for most cases of dissemination ..”

“.. The Japanese parliament has quietly passed legislation to make the creation or distribution of a virus or similar malware a criminal offense ..

the distribution of a virus created, for example, in the US, in Japan by a Japanese citizen, would come within the scope of the criminal law ..

what happens if the malware distribution takes place without the knowledge of the user of the computer, such as when a botnet is involved..

Legislators in Japan are less concerned about the semantics, however, as they say this is the country’s response to support the International Convention on Cybercrime, a treaty ratified by more than 30 countries and which mandates international co-operation in investigating crimes in cyberspace ..”